About The Equipment

There are several components in the sustainable backyard shrimp farm. Urban farming tends to have limited space available, so we have selected components that are compact for efficient space usage. Another goal is to limit the carbon impact, so we encourage using post-consumer materials as much as is possible. We reduce the hydrocarbon footprint by using solar energy for the primary energy source for the electric components in our urban farming system.

Water efficiency is important to reduce evaporation loss and dependency on a continuous water source. Because we are using a closed aquatic environment, water quality must be actively monitored and adjusted as needed to provide an optimum growth environment. There are electronic monitoring systems, but these are quite expensive and relatively low-cost testing supplies are easily obtained online or at your pet store. Active biofiltering is a must as unconsumed feed will decay and release harmful byproducts. The bacteria in the biofilter system can consume these, but careful monitoring of the shrimps' feed consumption is important to avoid overloading the biofilter

m. Rosenbergii require oxygenated water. Most biofilter system help aerate the water when used with a fountain. In our backyard shrimp cultivation, we use commercial air pumps to insure that the shrimp have adequate oxygen and to avoid the dissolved oxygen cycles that traditional that rely upon aquatic plants have.

The other primary components are the substrates. These are racks of mesh frames that are used to increase the surface area that is available to each shrimp. m. Rosenbergii are aggressive animals and their growth is limited by the available space in the backyard farm. Each shrimp goes through a molting stage as it grows. During this stage, the shrimp is an easy target for consumption by other shrimp. Research has shown that reducing population pressure by allowing at least 1 square foot per shrimp can result in each shrimp reaching a weight greater than 4 oz. The substrates that we use add approximately 500 square feet of surface area to each 12' x 36" pool. So we can stock 500 shrimp in each pool. this could mean a net harvest of over 110 pounds of shrimp from each pool (current retail value of over $1800!).

When it comes time to harvest your shrimp, raising your shrimp in a backyard pool has its advantages. you will need some help removing the substrates that will be covered in shrimp. Once the shrimp are shaken off of the substrates, the pool is carefully drained until the shrimp can be scooped with nets and transferred to holding containers. They can then be packaged and flash-frozen. One way of marketing your harvest to have a harvest party with potential customers. They can buy the fresh, live shrimp to take home.

Here is a list of each major backyard shrimping component, with links to individual pages that provide cost and construction information.